Wood block flooring



Nov. 19, 1940.

R5. BRUCE WOOD BLOCK FLOORING 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 7, 1939 NOV. 19, 1940 V 5 BRUCE 2,222,137

WOOD BLOCK FLOORING Filed Oct. 7, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 19, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WOOD BLOCK FLOORING ware Application October 7, 1939, Serial No. 298,494

4 Claims.

My invention relates to wood block floors of the type in which the block is blind nailed to the subfloor. In the patent of E. L. Bruce, Jr., No. 2,054,015, dated Sept. 8, 1936, there is disclosed a 5 method of laying wood block floors, in which the blocks are nailed to the subfloor, by blind nailing through the tongue sides of the blocks. In order to properlysecure such a block to the subfloor, by blind nailing, it is desirable that the floor layer should use the proper number of nails, have them properly placed and spaced and driven in at the proper angle. In order to accomplish these purposes, I drill holes for the nails through the tongue sides at the desired points and at the proper angle. These nail holes are slightly less in diameter than the diameter of the nail and are bored either entirely through the wood at that point, or substantially so.

There are a number of advantages in drilling holes in the block for the nails. Among these are to prevent splitting of the tongue when the block is nailed to the subfioor and to assure the proper amount of nails and their proper spacing and location. If these matters are left to the judgment of the floor layer, as will be the case with blocks that do not have drilled nail holes, the floor layer might use only one nail, where two or three would be required to hold the block down properly. Moreover, if the floor layer did use the proper number of nails, he might not get them placed and/or spaced so that they would exert the proper amount of holding power. For example, the floor layer might put the nail too close to the end of the block or put the nail too centrally of the block and leave the ends unprovided for,

My invention speeds up the laying time of the blocks and reduces the cost of laying because the nails can be driven into place more rapidly, there is no lost time on account ofthe nails bending because the hole holds the nail firmly in position and there is no lost time on account of nails that may be dropped. Furthermore, in driving a nail through the tongue side where there is no hole bored for the nail, it will often follow the grain of the wood and become bent at an angle, so that it is of no practical use in holding the block down on the subfloor. When the nails are bent, either in process of driving into the wood, or when they follow the rain or" the wood at a bad angle, they have to be withdrawn and new nails used, which causes loss of time. When the tongue splits or becomes broken, the floor layer must find a mew point for the nail, which may not be the proper point at which the block should be held down or the block may have to be discarded.

In nailing the block to the subfloor, I prefer to use a headed nail on account of its better holding power. In order to avoid setting the nail, I may provide a notch in the under side of the upper lip of the complemental groove on the adjacent block to provide a space for the nail head.

I may lay the floor with a block having drilled nail holes but without notching the lip of the groove, provided the nail heads are set. I may also lay the floor with a block having the notched groove but without drilling the nail holes, provided the nails are located in proper spaced 15 relationship.

Unit blocks of the type disclosed in the aforesaid patent are usually square and formed of three to six slats, the slats having a face width either of 1 2 or 2%; inches and the blocks range from 6% to 11% inches square.

In order to get the maximum holding power in nailing, certain rules should be followed.

l. Insofar as possible, every slat should have a nail in or adjacent to one of its ends, either 25 directly or indirectly, i. e., the nail should be through one of the transverse ends of the slat or through that portion of the adjacent slat that is adjacent the transverse end. Where there are three or four slats, there should be a nail for 0 one of the ends of each slat. Where there are five or six slats in the block and using only four nails, there should be no slat without a nail at one end or the other except that the slat be adjacenta slat that is so held down. I use only four nails in five and six slat blocks because four nails provides sufficient holding down power. The tongue and groove joint between slats and the element which ties the slats together into a unit whole assist in holding all of the slats in position on the sub-floor. Moreover, four nails in a four slat block provides considerably more holding power than is necessary, and particularly when said nails are placed and nailed as provided in my invention herein disclosed.

2. By direct or indirect nailing at the point where the four block corners join in the completed floor panel when the block is a well integrated unit, it would without other nailing along its edges, be held down perfectly. This can be accomplished if there is only one nail in an end of a corner slat, although two nails, running in different or opposite directions and placed as close as may be practical from a non-spli tting of tongue standpoint in the ends of corner slats, is the better arrangement.

Different types of unit wood blocks are held in assembled relationship by a number of different means. A completely integrated unit block would be one where the slats are closely and rigidly held together as would be the case if the slats were glued or dowelled together. The preferred type of unit block in my opinion, is not so integrated because it will then act as a whole in expanding and contracting with variations in moisture conditions. I recognize that the problem of holding down a unit block will vary somewhat with the degree of integration of the component parts of the block.

3. Where there are an equal number of nails on adjacent sides of the block, half of the nails enter the blocks and subfloor pointing in the same direction and the other half point in a direction at right angles thereto, when viewed in a horizontal plane. While this opposed arrangement of nails has superior holding power, it is further improved if the nails pointing in the same direction lengthwise and crosswise of the slats in the block are placed in staggered relationship, rather than in the same straight line, as dis closed in the aforesaid patent.

4. Nails placed in the end of a slat, directly or indirectly as hereinbefore described, should be centered at the center point of the end of the slat as nearly as is practical. This centering provides more uniform holding power of the slat than would be the case if the nail was not so placed. Moreover, the tendency to split the wood is lessened the further from the edges of the slats that the nails are driven. Nails placed in a longitudinal tongue must be placed at a point far enough from the end of the tongue to avoid splitting same. The distance from the end of the tongue approximating one-half of the width of a slat has been found to be quite satisfactory in this respect.

Referring to the drawings for a more complete disclosure of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a section of a floor, using a four slat block,

Fig. 2 is a plan view on an enlarged scale, of two adjacent four slat blocks in a floor,

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a three slat block, showing the location of the nail holes,

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a five slat block, showing the location of the nail holes,

Fig. '7 is a plan view of a six slat block, showing the location of the nail holes,

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic layout for a three slat block, showing the staggered relation of the nails,

Fig. 9 is a similar layout for a five slat block, and

Fig. 10 is a similar layout for a six slat block.

The preferred type of blocks to be used are those disclosed in the patent to Fetz 1,843,024, dated January 26, 19 32 and designated therein as right and left hand blocks. 'I'hese blocks are made from flooring strips I, provided with hollow backs Ill, and having tongues 2 along one longitudinal edge of each strip and a complemental groove 3 along the other longitudinal edge, the strips being held in assembled relationship by means of a metal spline 4 in a groove 5 on the underside of the block, all as more fully described in the patent to Allen, No. 1,808,623, granted June 2, 1931.

Along two adjacent sides of the block are the integral wood tongues 6 and I for engagement respectively with the complemental grooves 8 and 9 in the adjacent blocks, when assembled to form a fioor panel.

To determine whether a block is a right hand or a left hand block, the observer should place it with the groove 8 running longitudinally of the grain of the strips toward him. If the tongue 6, which is transversely of the grain of the strips, is on the left hand side, it is a left hand block and if it is on the right hand side, it is a right hand block.

In the drawings, reference letter R indicates right hand blocks and L indicates left hand blocks.

The floor may be laid by starting with a right hand block II, in the corner of the room formed by the walls l2 and I 3, and laid outwardly towards the other walls of the room, the blocks being laid alternately right and left, with the grain of the wood in adjacent blocks being at right angles to each other. As each block is laid, the two tongues 6 and I will always be on the free or laying side of the floor and the block is blind nailed through the tongue sides into the subfloor l4. The blocks along the wall line will also be face nailed at l5 and an expansion space I 6 left to take care of the expansion of the floor from moisture absorption.

The holes I! for the nails along the side tongue I are located so as to be opposite the middle of the transverse end of an adjacent slat.

The holes l8 in the transverse tongue 6 are positioned so that the nail therein will be driven through the hollowback I0, so that this particular piece will be firmly fastened to the subfloor on both sides of the hollow back, thereby preventing the edge of the piece from turning up, which might be the case if the nails were driven through the flat portion of the under side of the slat.

The nails 22 in the drilled holes in the slat are at an angle, so far as practicable, that will produce the best holding power.

The nails 22 in the holes on the longitudinal tongue side will pass through the slats so as to hold down the fiat portions on the under side of the slats.

In blocks of the type shown, which are made of the customary flooring slats, having a 2%" face, where there are only three slats in the block, as shown in Figs. 5 and 8, it will be sufficient to have one nail hole 25 on the longitudinal tongue side and two holes 26 in the middle of the edge slats so that it passes through the hollowback as heretofore described.

In order to eliminate the necessity of setting the nail heads 23, the top lip of the complemental groove is provided with a notch 24 that fits over the nail head. However, if the nail head is set, it is possible to dispense with the notch.

It will be understood that where a wood floor is face nailed that it is customary to use a nail that has a finish type head, so that the nail head can be set below the face of the floor and the hole puttied up. On the other hand, in blind nailing, it is desirable to have a larger nail head, so as to draw the flooring down into place and while this type of nail is sometimes set, or punched down below the surface, it is not set to the same extent as the nail Would be set in face nailing.

As shown by the dotted lines in Figs. 1, 8, 9 and 10, it will be seen that the nails pointing in any one direction are not in the same straight line but staggered.

Referring to Fig. 8, it will be seen that one end of each of the three slats forming a block, when in the panel, are held to the subfloor either directly by a nail 26 through the transverse end, or indirectly by a nail 25 through the tongue of the adjacent block.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the ends of each of the four slats are held to the subfloor either directly by a nail 30, through the transverse tongue, or indirectly by nail 3| through the longitudinal tongue and that the nails pointing in any one direction are staggered.

Referring to Fig. 9, it will be seen that there is one slat 32 that has no nail for either end, but the adjacent slats 33 are held down directly or indirectly by at least one nail at the end. There are also four nails 34, 35, 36 and 3'! holding down the ends of the slats adjacent the corner. There is also a staggered relation of the nails pointing in any one direction.

Referring to Fig. 10, it will be seen that there are two slats 38 and 39, that have no nails for their ends but in each case an adjacent slat is held down directly or indirectly by at least one nail at the end. Here also the nails are in staggered relation.

There could be, in the five and six slat block, a nail for each of these slats: that have none. It is desirable, however, not to use any more nails than necessary and to have a uniform number for each block in so far as possible. The particular nailing arrangement therefor, except for the three slat blocks is based on four nails for each block.

This application is a continuation in part of my application filed March 19, 1935, Serial No. 11,865.

I claim:

1. A wood slat provided with a groove adapted for interlocking with a tongue on an adjacent slat, the upper lip of the groove being provided with a notch to receive the head of a nail which blind nails the said adjacent slat to the subfloor.

2. A wood block formed from a plurality of slats and having a tongue on two adjacent edges and a groove on two adjacent edges, adapted for interlocking with grooves and tongues respectively on adjacent blocks, a hole drilled in the block through each tongue side for the reception of a nail for blind nailing the block to the subfioor and of a depth suificient to prevent splitting of the slat when so nailed, the upper lip of each groove being provided with a notch adapted to receive the head of the nail which blind nails an adjacent block to the subfloor.

3. A wood block formed from a plurality of slats and having a tongue on two adjacent edges and a groove on two adjacent edges, a hole drilled in the block through each tongue side for the reception of a nail for blind nailing the block to the subfioor and of a depth sufficient to prevent splitting of the slat when so nailed, one of the nail holes being located in the end of the slat that provides one of the said grooves.

4. A wood block formed from a plurality of slats that are provided with hollowbacks, the block having a tongue on two adjacent edges and a groove on two adjacent edges, a hole drilled in the block through each tongue side for the reception of a nail for blind nailing the block to the subfioor and of a depth sufiicient to prevent splitting of the slat when so nailed, one of the nail holes being located in the end of the slat that provides one of the said grooves and passing through the hollowback.

ROBERT G. BRUCE. 

